Friday, December 17, 2010

1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs Chuck McElroy



Who is this? former major league relief pitcher Chuck McElroy
What is this? An autograph card from the 1996 Leaf Signature set
Where'd I get it? Purchased from CheckOutMyCards.com
How much did it cost? 75 cents.

Why is this so special? McElroy spent 13 seasons in the major leagues from 1989-2001. He pitched for 9 different teams, including the New York Mets.

During the 1996 season, McElroy was traded from the Reds to the Angels for Lee Smith. Somehow Donruss managed to have these cards printed and autographed in time to include them with their releases later that year. It seems like a decent argument against sticker autographs, but I think that cost concerns keep them around more so than logistical ones.

McElroy was selected in the 1997 expansion draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he was traded to Colorado the same day for outfielder Harvey Pulliam. If any Diamondbacks fans are reading this, do you consider McElroy to be one of the original members of your team?

McElroy's autograph isn't necessarily pretty, but I give him points for making it legible.

I'm not sure what might show up in the mail, but right now it looks like I'll finish up posting the cards of players whose first names begin with "D," "E" or "F" next week. That will clear the way to finally start with "G" after Christmas.

2 comments:

zman40 said...

I try to grab a few of these cards whenever I make a purchase from comc.com. Nice grab for 75 cents.

Anonymous said...

I rarely think to look for these Leaf cards on COMC... I bought McElroy's card because I was trying to knock some names off my Mets autograph wantlist.

It's a good idea, though - I'll have to remember to see who else they have when I place orders. :)